Iraqi forces launched a broad operation one week ago to retake the city of Fallujah, one of the Islamic State group's most emblematic bastions, in the western province of Anbar, creating a window for some civilians to flee the city's outlying areas.
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Displaced Iraqis who fled fighting between government forces and the Islamic State group in Anbar province line up to collect donated food at the Alexanzan camp in the Dora neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Baghdad on May 31, 2106. Only a few hundred families have managed to slip out of Anbar's Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside.(Photo: SABAH ARAR, AFP/Getty Images)

BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces halted an assault to free Fallujah from Islamic State control Wednesday for fear of causing the deaths of civilians held hostage in the city, including an estimated 20,000 children.

"It would be possible to end the battle quickly if protecting civilians wasn't among our priorities," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on state television. "Our units are just outside Fallujah — victory is within our reach."

The announcement comes two days after government forces entered the southern part of the city. They met fierce resistance from militants using civilians as "human shields" on the front lines and threatening to kill anyone who flees.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warned the Iraqi government and Islamic State about an estimated 20,000 children inside the battle zone, saying families should be given safe passage out of the city.

“As the violence continues to escalate in Fallujah and across Iraq, we are concerned over the protection of children in the face of extreme and rising danger," said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF's representative in Iraq. “Since the start of the military operation in Fallujah, very few families have been able to leave. Children face the risk of forced recruitment into the fighting, strict procedures for security screening and separation from their families."

Recruited children who "see their lives and futures jeopardized" are forced to carry and use arms in the war, he said.

The U.N. estimates that more than 50,000 people are trapped in Fallujah.

For months, the U.N. raised concerns over the deteriorating conditions inside the city that include shortages of food and medicine.

"We don't have milk to feed my kids — there isn't a single can in the entire city," Abo Mohammed al Janabi said by phone, referring to his two children. "They are very weak now."

For more than a week, Iraqi military and Shiite militia forces have been preparing for troops to enter the predominately Sunni city and have surrounded it, cutting off the Islamic State from supplies and reinforcements, while airstrikes have pounded the city, about 35 miles from Baghdad.

Al-Abadi said 24 villages outside of Fallujah have been liberated since the start of the offensive in May.

Officials see retaking Fallujah as an important step to stop attacks by the Islamic State in the capital of Baghdad over the past few months that have killed scores.

Fallujah has been under Islamic State control since 2014 and was one of the first Iraqi cities to fall to the militant group during their advance on Iraq that summer. It is also the second largest city in Iraq still held by the Islamic State. The militant group continues to hold the city of Mosul.